Enoch (Hebrews 11:5-6 Jeff Kliewer)

Come on, let's all stand together. And watch the way, watch the way.

Hosanna, Hosanna. You give life.

You are love. The darkness you restore.

Broken and restored.

Hosanna. You give life.

You are love.

Broken and restored. That is broken. Lady of the earth.

We'll shout your praise.

Our hearts will cry. These bones will sing. Lady of the earth.

We'll shout your praise. We pour out our praise.

It's your breath. So we pour out our praise.

We pour out our praise. It's your breath. We pour out.

Let us again learn that you prepare. Continue to grow in what you did for us.

Our Father everlasting. Creating one.

Unceasing Christ the Son. Jesus our

Savior. I believe in God the

Father. I believe in Christ the Son. I believe in the

Holy Spirit. Our God is three in one.

He ascended and proceeded high.

I believe in God the Father. He is the Son. Three in one.

I believe in the Resurrection.

For I believe in you.

Close again. That Jesus Christ is

Lord. I believe in you.

Again. That Jesus Christ is

Lord. I believe in life eternal. I believe in life eternal.

I believe in the virgin birth. I believe in the saints communion. And in your

Holy Church. I believe in the Resurrection. When Jesus comes again.

For I believe in the name of Jesus. For I believe.

Let's pray. Good job coming out here on a rainy day by the way.

I'm impressed. Let's pray. So Father. We just ask that you would speak to us this morning.

We pray that you would help us by your word. To walk with you. We pray that you would remind us of things that we know.

Open our eyes to see things that we didn't know. Marvelous things in your word. We pray that it would change how we live as we go from this place this morning.

Help us to walk in holiness with sincerity. To walk the walk.

Not just talk the talk. Train us in righteousness this morning. By your holy word in Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Alright who's been watching The Chosen? The Chosen, Dallas Jenkins.

It is a online video series that is dramatizing the life of Jesus.

And all the different stories that we read in the gospels. They have had about many millions of views.

But their goal is to get one billion views. So you guys can each contribute by tuning in and watching.

Another interesting thing about it is that the guy who's making these videos is named

Dallas Jenkins. And his dad was the author of the Left Behind series.

Anybody here read Left Behind back in the day in the 90's? Powerful book. Series. I think there were 16 of them.

And what it was, was the story of when Christ will rapture the church.

And the events that will unfold on earth. So there's some poetic license there. Because we have the book of Revelation and the rapture of the church.

And the tribulation that unfolds. But we don't know all the specifics. So he makes up a character named

Nikolai Carpathia. Who is the antichrist. And when the rapture happens you have planes falling out of the sky.

You have cars that are crashing. Because all the believers on earth have suddenly disappeared. And so a person's clothes will just drop to the ground.

And the Christian is just gone. It's a very powerful book.

I think the thing that hit me back in the 90's. I think I was a freshman in college when I read

Left Behind part one. The thing that really hit me was that there was this pastor.

Whose name was Bruce. And when the rapture happened. He was left behind.

And it really got to me. Because I thought, well wait a minute. He's the pastor. He's got to be raptured.

But as it turned out. He had never been born again. He talked a good game. He talked the talk.

But he wasn't really walking the walk. And there are many pastors who do not walk what they talk.

So this pastor Bruce got left behind. And it really got me searching my heart in 1993 or whatever.

I graduated in 2000. So no, it was 96. I read that book. But anyway,

I never forgot the impact it made on me. Because it reminded me of Matthew chapter 7.

Many will say on that day, Lord, Lord, didn't we cast out demons in your name? And do all these marvelous things?

And he will say, I never knew you. Terrifying words.

There will be some who think they're Christians. But when the rapture happens, they will be left behind. Well, how did the media respond to the book

Left Behind? Want to hear some of the reviews? Here's Rolling Stone.

Almost laughably tedious. New York Sun. Fatuous and boring.

So boring that it sold 80 million copies. And I don't think the

Sun has probably sold that many newspapers in all of their existence. With their pinkies in the air while they sip their tea, they mock the book.

Tyler Whig -Stevenson lamented the macabre giddiness of the books, which seem at times to revel in the doomsday suffering of the unsaved.

John Dart, writing for Christian Century, characterized the work as beam -me -up theology.

Trying to equate it to Star Trek. You know how beam -me -up Scotty, this is some kind of fanciful science fiction.

Harvey Cox, who is a professor at Harvard. So if you're at Harvard, you've got to know what you're talking about, right?

He says, we as humans constructed the market and we can remove it.

So he's for socialism and getting rid of the free market. He says that parts of Left Behind, our appeal of the book lies in the lip -licking anticipation of all the blood.

He says the only reason Christians like it is because we're bloodthirsty. Others go on to say similar things.

Paul Nutterling accused the authors of re -sacralizing violence, adding that we human beings are the ones who put our faith in superior firepower, but in Left Behind novels, the darkness of that human satanic violence is once again attributed to God.

He's saying that if there's this kind of bloodshed in the book of Revelation, or the Left Behind series, it must be human violence because we can't attribute any violence to God.

David Carlson, professor of religious studies. Well, if you're a professor of religious studies, then you really know what you're talking about, right?

He wrote that the theology underpinning Left Behind promotes a skewed view of the

Christian faith that welcomes war and disaster while dismissing peace efforts in the Middle East and elsewhere, all in the name of Christ.

So all of these reviews have something in common. They criticize Left Behind on the assumption that God would never judge that way.

There could never be a tribulation sent from him, a day of his wrath and fury against the earth.

Such things just don't fit with the way they picture Christ. Christ is only the loving shepherd who carries the wounded sheep, but never the judge with a sword coming from his mouth.

In truth, the Bible pictures him in both ways, and Revelation 6 -17 pictures the wrath of the lamb.

That even though Jesus is a lamb, he has wrath. He is also the lion of the tribe of Judah.

So even though many people don't like the picture of Left Behind, it is fit to what the

Bible describes in the book of Revelation. So this morning, we're going to talk about the rapture.

We're going to talk about walking by faith. So far in Hebrews 11, the concept has been by faith, right?

The whole chapter is by faith. By faith, Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Isaac, Sarah, Moses, David, and all the patriarchs.

They walked by faith. And last week, we saw Abel. He walked by faith, and as a result, he was killed by Abel.

But he walked by faith, obeying the call to offer an animal sacrifice. And his blood was shed for it.

Yet his blood cries out from the ground, still speaking us today. His blood calls for justice, whereas the blood of Jesus, which fell to the ground, a victim of those who killed him, yet having given his life willingly.

Praise over us. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. That was the message of Abel.

Today, we study Enoch. Turn with me. Hebrews 11, verses 5 and 6 today.

We really want to see two major points in this passage. One, the rapture of the church.

Christians will be caught up to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. And number two, it is only those who walk with God, who walk right into heaven.

The walk of faith, which Abel, which Enoch, demonstrates for us. So, Hebrews 11, 5 and 6.

By faith, Enoch was taken up, so that he should not see death.

And he was not found, because God had taken him. Now, before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased

God. And without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists.

And that He rewards those who seek Him. Turn back to Genesis, chapter 5.

And we see the story from which this teaching is drawn. The author of Hebrews has read

Genesis 5. And we should too. Genesis 5, verses 21 to 24.

Oh, very good. You got the Bible app on your phone. I use that too. That's how

I fall asleep at night. That voice on the Bible app will put you to sleep, I'm telling you. Genesis 5, 21 to 24.

When Enoch lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah.

Now, watch this. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

Thus, all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God and he was not.

For God took him. That's the story in the Old Testament. And then back to Hebrews 11.

It says, by faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death. He was not found because God had taken him.

Now, before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God. First big idea.

God will rapture the church. He is going to take us.

Enoch is a picture of the church because right after Enoch gives birth to, his wife gives birth to Methuselah, Methuselah's name indicates that after a time, after he dies, it will come.

Enoch's name means teacher. So he still speaks to us and teaches that after he dies, it will come.

What will come? Well, Methuselah's son is Lamech who gives birth to Noah. Keep saying that.

Whose wife gives birth to Noah. And so what we have, of course, is after the 969 years of Methuselah's life, the flood.

Judgment. A coming judgment of water where God saw the wickedness of the world and all the ungodliness on the earth.

And he destroyed it except for those he saved on the ark, which of course pictures

Christ and his cross. Well, before that coming flood of judgment, there was a rapture.

Enoch walked with God and he was snatched, taken, brought to heaven.

How many of you are familiar with the book of Enoch? It's a fake, it's midrash.

It was written in the 100s before Christ and it attributes its content to Enoch, the seventh from Adam.

But what's interesting about it is that in the book of Jude, there is a quote from the book of Enoch.

Let's look at it real quick. Go with me. Jude, we're going to be all over the Bible today. So if you love the Bible, you're going to be a happy camper.

If you don't like the Bible, you're going to say, what are we doing here? Jude, verse 14.

It was about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied saying, Behold, the

Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way.

And of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

What's Enoch's favorite word? Ungodly. He repeats it again and again. And here's the problem.

He's living at a time when the thoughts of people's hearts are wickedness all the time. You have angels leaving their abode and seeing that the daughters of men are beautiful and going to them and having these children called the

Nephilim. This is Genesis chapter six, right after Enoch. But Enoch is living in this time.

It is an ungodly time where God has been storing up wrath and he's about to judge the world.

And just before he does, Enoch gets snatched. That's important. That is what is called the rapture of the church.

It's what's mocked in the media. And even in Bible colleges and seminaries, this doctrine is often derided as foolish and unsophisticated.

Here's the deal. It's in the Bible. It's true. And I'm going to give you two major reasons that the rapture will happen prior to the tribulation.

That's good news, isn't it? Y 'all don't want to go through the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

You think this world is bad? You don't want an earthquake that shakes and levels all the mountains and causes the islands to flee.

And pestilences and famine and war that make what we have now in God's common grace look like it's a walk in the park.

Even the war -torn areas of this world have not seen anything like the book of Revelation.

But good news, we will be raptured up. So here's two big reasons. The first one is, God has not destined the church for wrath.

Turn with me. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 9. In case you think

I'm making it up. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 9 says, For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our

Lord Jesus Christ. Now the context of 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5, the beginning of chapter 4, is about walking with God.

And we'll get into that as kind of my closing point. We spend most of the time today on the rapture. But look, it's in the context of walking with God and pleasing

God. Chapter 4 verse 17. We don't need to worry about Christians who have died or fallen asleep in Christ.

Because, verse 17, Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the

Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord. The context here is the catching up of Christians to meet the

Lord in the air. And those who have died in Christ will also be caught up, taken, raptured.

Their body will be reunited with their spirit which was already present with the Lord. So this is good news.

Because God has not destined us for wrath, we will be caught up to meet

Him in the air. That's good news. Next. This is the second one. And where I'll spend most of my time.

Daniel's 70th week. Turn with me to learn about the abomination of desolations.

That sounds fun, doesn't it? Daniel chapter 9, verses 24 to 27.

After youth group on Friday night, one of the teens came into my office. I was just in there. And he had some questions.

And guys, teenagers, I love when you have questions about the Bible. You can do that all day long.

Bring questions. We'll talk about it. Well, guess what he brought to me on Friday? Daniel 9, 25.

He said, what is this? Explain this. And I said, we'll teach it on Sunday morning. I got to spend that time with him and share it with him.

And it was one of those moments that's just like mind -blowing. When you read

Daniel 9, 24 to 27 for the first time, your head should explode with joy.

This is amazing. Now, when I read it to you at first, you might not follow. So, warning.

But we'll break it down. Daniel 9, 24 to 27. Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city.

To finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity. To bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.

Know, therefore, and understand, that from the going out of the word, to restore and build

Jerusalem, to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks.

Then, for sixty -two weeks, it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.

And after the sixty -two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.

And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war.

Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week.

And for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abomination shall come one who makes desolate.

Until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. Okay. Have a nice day, guys.

We'll see you next Sunday. Should we talk about that and break that down a little bit?

Daniel 9, 24. Seventy weeks. Here's the first point.

A week, the Hebrew word is seven. Seventy -sevens. It is a week of years.

So, seventy seven -year periods are decreed. Do the math. Four hundred and ninety years.

That's the prophecy. Who is it for? Your people and your holy city.

That refers to the Jewish people. The city of Jerusalem.

This is a very Jewish prophecy. Now, one thing you'll find in common with the first 26 books of the

New Testament. You will see the tearing down of the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile.

It is about the church and how we are one body in Christ. But something changes in the book of Revelation.

You don't see the church from chapter 6 to chapter 19. Instead, there is a great

Jewishness to the book of Revelation. How many witnesses are there? Two.

And they're Jewish. They prophesy in Jerusalem. Some people think it's

Enoch and Moses. There are 144 ,000 witnesses.

What do we know about those 144 ,000 witnesses? They're Jewish and there's 12 ,000 from each of the 12 tribes.

It's especially important to the detail to recognize that this is a Jewish book.

God is dealing with the Jewish people. Okay, you got that? Daniel 9 24 is a very

Jewish prophecy. It's going to be important here in a minute. To do what?

Finish the transgression. Put an end to sin. Atone for iniquity.

Bring in everlasting righteousness. Seal up both vision and prophet and anoint the most holy place.

Clearly a picture of the eschaton. The last things. The time when Christ reigns in his kingdom.

When this world has come to an end and God has made everything right. Sin is done away with. The most holy place is the abode of God himself dwelling among us.

Christ the king in his kingdom. Glorious. We're looking forward to that, right? 70 times 7 years for this to come about.

490 years. But know this. 7 years to rebuild.

7 sevens, that's 49 years. Then there will be 62 sevens. That's 483 years in total.

You following the math? Some of you with like end of year like brain fog because you've been doing too much math.

You don't even want to try to keep up right now. But what does it say? Verse 25.

It says, Understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build

Jerusalem to the coming of the anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for 62 weeks it shall be built again.

So it's a rebuilding of Jerusalem. But in troubled times. Now look at verse 26.

After the 62 weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.

Anointed one. In the Hebrew, Mashiach. In the Greek, Christ.

What will happen to him? Cut off. Have nothing. Here's your blow your mind moment.

You ready? In 444 BC, Cyrus, also known as Artaxerxes, gave the decree to restore and rebuild

Jerusalem. You know the backstory. The Jews had been wiped out by the Babylonians, taken into exile for 70 years as Jeremiah prophesied.

Then the command was given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Picture it like this.

That is the start of the timetable. Start of the prophecy.

That triggers it. When Cyrus gives that command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, the ticker is running.

Got it? 483 years later, Messiah will be cut off.

When Daniel wrote those words, he was not using the Gregorian calendar that we use that has 365 days in a year.

Which calendar would Daniel be using? The Hebrew calendar, which has 360 days in a year.

483 years on the Hebrew calendar from the command by Artaxerxes, which is recognized by secular historians as a date that's indisputable.

483 years later comes to 33 AD. What happened that year?

Was that when Muhammad was born? I don't think so. Was that Confucius?

The most significant event in the history of the world happened in 33 AD. Daniel prophesied it hundreds of years before it did.

He told the exact date. All of this I tell you because I love it, but it's not my point.

I just wanted to blow your mind. That the very time of Christ the anointed being cut off is foretold here.

But now the rest of the prophecy is my point regarding the rapture. Because you should have noticed, we're missing one week.

And some people will explain that and say, well, the destroying of the temple in 70

AD. That's the final week of Daniel. Trouble is, that happened in 70

AD and it would have to have happened in 40 AD. The last seven years from 33 to 40, nothing happens in 40

AD. So the preterist view can't be right. Anyway, let's look at it. So, you guys still with me?

You guys love this like I do? So Daniel 9 .26, the second sentence.

And the people of the prince who is to come, that is the antichrist.

This is not the true prince spoken of earlier who's cut off. But the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

The antichrist will destroy Jerusalem. Made no sense to Calvin and Zwingli and Luther.

Because that was destroyed in 70 AD. But brothers and sisters, we are sitting here in 2021.

And the city was rebuilt and given back to the Jews on May 14, 1948.

So it makes sense to us that when we hear that the antichrist will destroy Jerusalem, that's yet future.

In a minute, I'm going to answer why it's still future. The people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Its end will come with a flood. And to the end, there shall be war.

Desolations are decreed. Desolations. Jesus spoke of the abomination of desolations.

To make desolate, to wipe things out. But there's something called the abomination of desolations.

Look at verse 27. He shall make a strong covenant with many for one week. A seven -year peace treaty that the antichrist makes.

And for half of the week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.

The temple is rebuilt. He stops the sacrifice and offering. But what does he do? And on the wing of abominations, this is the abomination of desolation.

Shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.

What is that? Aren't you glad we have a New Testament? Because 2 Thessalonians 2 says that the antichrist will proclaim himself to be

God. He will go to the temple and declare himself to be

God at the midpoint of this seven -year period. This week.

So, here is the question that we can answer. That many who deny the rapture of the church have no answer for.

Or maybe they believe in the rapture of the church. But they make that concurrent with the second coming of Christ. Like we're caught up in the air as he's coming.

And then we follow him down as he wipes out the earth. That's the post -trib view. But I'm saying that we're not destined for wrath.

We're going to be raptured up to heaven. And for seven years God will pour out wrath on the earth.

And then he will come and pour out desolation on the desolator. He will destroy the antichrist by the breath of his mouth.

So, why did this not all go down in 33

AD and end in 40 AD? Why is that?

Our answer is in the word mystery. When we study the scripture.

We have to take terms according to their semantic domain. How those words are used in the bible.

And we assume because we have an understanding of mystery in our culture. That we know what the bible was talking about.

The word mystery. Which we're going to read three verses in the new testament that speak to this word.

That answer our question. The word mystery does not mean a paradox.

It doesn't mean something that looks like this and that. And we don't understand how they fit together.

So, we just assume well it looks like a contradiction. It must be a paradox. That's how we think of the word mystery.

Paradox. But here is the true biblical definition of the word mystery.

A mystery is something that was not revealed. That is now being made known.

That's very important. You say why is that so important? Because the bible reveals a mystery in the new testament.

That was not yet known in Daniel 9 24 to 27. It is the creation of the church.

Of Jew and Gentile together. Until the full number of the Gentiles come in.

And then he will resume his plan with Israel. Turn with me to Ephesians 3 6. We're going to do this real quick.

Ephesians chapter 3 verse 6. Look for this word mystery. Mysterio in the

Greek. This is not something that's paradoxical.

That we can't understand. It's just something that God never revealed. The Jews thought they were the only chosen people.

And that God would destroy the Gentile dogs. But instead this is

God's plan. This mystery is that the

Gentiles are fellow heirs. Members of the same body. And partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Now this is deep. God's plan was to call out from all nations a people for himself.

And this people is called the church. It was born on the day of Pentecost. When the

Holy Spirit came in a unique way. And created this body. Look in 3 6.

The body. Members of the same body. This body is the church.

It wasn't revealed in the Old Testament that God would do this. But like a parenthesis in the 70 weeks.

After 69 weeks comes the creation of the church age. Turn to Romans 11 25.

He uses that word again. This is how you can follow the language of the text. And understand

God's plan. Romans 11 25. Lest you be wise in your own sight.

I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery.

I hear you guys saying it. A mystery is not a paradox. It's something that wasn't foretold ahead of time.

That is now being made known. Here's the mystery. A partial hardening has come upon Israel.

Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. When Israel rejected their

Messiah. Was God done with them? It sure looked that way.

All the Gentiles began to get saved. And Paul became a missionary to the Gentiles. And here we are sitting in New Jersey of all places.

Believing in the Jewish Messiah. While the Jews are in Jerusalem not believing in their own

Messiah. What's up with that? That's the question of Romans 9 1 -5 by the way.

And he goes on to answer that question. So is God done with the Jews? Has he moved on to the

Gentiles? No, this is the mystery. There will be a church age where he gathers

Jew and Gentile believers together. In the church. But there is coming a day.

When God will soften the heart of the ethnic nation of Israel. And so they will be saved.

Look at verse 26. And in this way all Israel will be saved.

That's the mystery. As it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob.

And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. Israel rejected her own

Messiah. Remains faithful to them.

He called them back in to the promised land. In the 1940's. There was a mystery of lawlessness.

In the land. Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

Told you we were going to be flying all over the Bible today. You want to see another mystery?

2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 7.

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.

And then the lawless one will be revealed. Who's that? The antichrist will be revealed.

So why haven't we seen the antichrist? Why did

Adolf Hitler fail to conquer the world? Didn't he want to exterminate the Jews? Why did he want to exterminate the

Jews? What's going on with that? Why of all the peoples in the world have the

Jewish people been uniquely targeted for genocide? The holocaust.

Why? Stalin had plans to do the same. In 1492 the

Spanish expelled the Jewish people from the land. Why are there rockets from Hamas into Israel in 2021?

I made a point on Facebook yesterday. I said the difference between Hamas and Israel is this.

If Hamas were to lay down their weapons and act only peacefully, there would be peace.

But if Israel were to lay down their weapons and act only peacefully, there would be genocide.

It's the stated intention of the nations that surround Israel to drive them into the sea.

In the language of the Iranian mullahs. To make an end of them. Complete annihilation.

Why is there this rage against the people of Israel? Because God still has a plan for them.

And Satan knows it. He is trying to annihilate them because he rages against them.

This is the mystery of lawlessness. Which is already at work. But the restrainer is keeping it from happening.

How did God restrain Hitler? The U .S.

soldier? A Romans 13 government that God used to restrain the wickedness of lawlessness.

Of this antichrist figure. There is always an antichrist ready to be revealed.

But it's God who will determine when he will allow that thing to run. He will rapture the church.

Taking the Christians out and release the antichrist to do what he already intends to do.

Isn't that interesting? That's the mystery of lawlessness that's already at work.

Only he who restrains it will restrain it until he is taken out of the way. That's the rapture of the church.

So let me now tie all of these pieces together and hopefully make sense of it.

God's prophetic timetable is 70 times 7. 490 years. The first 483 of those years ended in 33

A .D. when Messiah the Prince was cut off. But we're waiting on the last 7.

That last 7 is the book of Revelation. And what initiates it?

Well, the rapture of the church. There was a mystery revealed that God would bring Jew and Gentile together in one body in the church.

And then he would call us out. Like Enoch. To meet him in the air.

To meet the Lord in the air and so to be with him forever. And that's what unfolds in the book of Revelation.

The tribulation. All of the things that will come on this earth will happen when the church is taken out of the way.

In other words, what kicks off the tribulation? The rapture of the church.

That's the mystery. That's the parentheses. The gap that wasn't foretold in Daniel 9 24 -27.

But the New Testament author Paul makes that known. That there would be this church age.

Then the church would be raptured and the tribulation will come. That's why we believe in a pre -tribulation rapture.

Because the church is 1. Not destined for wrath. 1 Thessalonians 5 9. But number 2.

Daniel's 70th week. We're in a parenthetical.

Which only ends when the church is lifted up. And God resumes his dealings with Israel.

To bring them back to himself. And in the end you'll see a multitude of Jewish believers waiting for their

Messiah. When he puts his foot on Mount Zion. And it splits. And a river runs from east to west.

And he reigns for a thousand years. And we come with ten thousands upon ten thousands.

Riding with him. And he judges the ungodly. Jude 14. That's what

Enoch said. He's going to judge the world even as he did with the flood.

So in closing I said there would be a more applicable point at the end. Look again with me at Hebrews 11.

We're coming full circle folks. We're back to Hebrews 11. We spent our time today talking about the first part of the verse.

But I want to drive it home with the second. Hebrews 11 5.

By faith Enoch was taken up. Raptured. Snatched. So that he should not see death.

And he was not found because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased

God. And without faith it is impossible to please him.

For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists. And that he rewards those who seek him.

In closing in application. Those who walk with God. Will walk right into heaven.

It's my goal. That my children will never have to bury me. You say well that's impossible.

Everybody dies right? The death. The statistics are 100 % right? Well not quite.

Because Enoch was snatched. And Elijah was snatched. And here we are with this command.

Matthew 24 verse 14. And this gospel shall be preached to the ends of the earth.

And then the end shall come. That's our job. To go preach the gospel.

Walk with him. That pastor in the book left behind. Even though he's a fictitious character.

Pastor Bruce. He talked the talk but he did not walk with God.

And he was left behind. The coming tribulation is real. It will come on all the earth.

And my question for you. This day. Are you walking with him? Are you praying unceasingly?

Talking to him all day in your spirit. Seeking him. Knowing that he rewards.

Believing that he exists. And seeking him. Because that's what pleases him.

The genuine Christian will do that. And the genuine Christian will be raptured. Caught up to meet him in the air.

You know I'm so blessed. And my two brothers. The three boys that grew up in Palm Harbor Florida.

Because my parents told us all about Jesus. But a double blessing and something equally important to that.

Is that my parents walked what they talked. They just walked the walk.

This morning my dad is with my mom. In a memory care facility in Florida. Where he goes every single day at the break of dawn.

And sits with her all day long. Feeds her her meals. And you know what I see in that?

That's Christianity. And I believe it with the depth of my heart.

Because I've seen it since I was a kid. Parents you better walk this walk for your children.

Don't just talk it. Walk like Enoch. Walk the walk.

And you can't save your children. God alone can do that. There's many reasons why kids go prodigal.

But don't let you be the stumbling block. Walk with him. Don't fall down.

Don't depart to the right or the left. Stay on the straight and narrow. People are watching us all the time.

They need to see our walk. Enoch walked with God. And he was no more.

For God took him. And he's coming to take us. Let's pray. So father we thank you so much for your word to us this morning.

We think about Enoch. How he walked with you. And you took him.

Because you have not destined your church for wrath. But for salvation.

And now Lord we pray that you would correct us. Help us to please you in how we walk.

You're not calling us to sprint a marathon. You're calling us to walk. To keep up with you.

To keep in step with the spirit. To seek you and believe that you're there.

To walk with you day in and day out. So Lord I pray that you would correct us this morning.

First Thessalonians 4 tells us to put off the deeds of sexual immorality. And all the sins of the flesh.

And instead to walk with you. It's not easy Lord. So we're asking for you to help us.

We know that you are here with us. Even though invisible to our eyes. You are here. You promised that you are with us to the end of the age.

And Lord I also pray for those who have been pretending. Not really believing.

Pretending to believe. For the sake of others. To look right. I pray

Lord right now. That you would convict them of sin. But more than that. Reveal to them your grace.

Your love. How patient you are with sinners like us. But you do call us to die to our sins.

And to take up a new walk. I pray that you would convert them. And they would call on you to be saved.

Right now. They would no longer play games. Or put on a face.

A mask. For others. Pray they would walk by faith like Enoch did.

Help me to do that Lord. To walk right into heaven. We thank you that you are coming.

And we turn our eyes to the heavens. The same way you ascended.

You are coming again. We believe that Lord. We are looking for you.

Please come quick Lord. This world is descending into madness. But you are on your throne.

Please come soon. Lord Jesus. We are looking for you. As we walk with you.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let's stand and sing. The everlasting

God. The everlasting God. He will not make you poor.

But depend around you.

Lift us up on wings of light. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again.

Even so through Jesus God will bring with him. Those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you.

By a word from the Lord. That we who are alive. Who are left until the coming of the Lord.

Will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself. Will descend from heaven.

With the cry of command. With the voice of an archangel. And with the sound of the trumpet of God.

And the dead in Christ. Will rise first. Then we who are alive.

Who are left. Will be caught up together with them in the clouds. To meet the

Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another.